Remote authentication protocols traditionally involve the use of secret information (such as a private key) to authenticate a user. The crux of these types of authentication scenarios is that the private key must be kept secret. If the key is compromised, unauthorized access can occur.
Physical unclonable functions (PUFs) are devices embodied in a physical structure (such as an integrated circuit) which, based on random physical factors, makes them for all intents and purposes impossible to duplicate or clone. PUFs for remote authentication have been proposed previously. However, no existing physical system has been shown to be fully suitable for real authentication applications.
Systems of boson sampling and reconfigurable boson sampling have been experimentally demonstrated for physics and computational applications. See, for example, Gard et al., “An introduction to boson-sampling,” Quantum Physics arXiv:1406.6767 (13 pages). A boson sampling device is a photonic device that, via a beam splitter, converts one set of photons arriving at an input port(s) of the device into a second set of photons leaving the device by an output port(s). The probability of an input leading to a certain output of the device is then determined.
Techniques for implementing boson sampling for producing PUFs that are suitable for real authentication applications, such as remote authentication, would be desirable.